US2466962A - Article conveying and distributing mechanism - Google Patents

Description

1.. G. WEYMOUTH 2,466,962

ARTICLE CONVEYING AND DISTRIBUTING MECHANISM 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 April 12, 1949.

Filed July 12, 1945.

39 l7 1 I 4 Q I C v Q 22 15 3 J3! 23 LGMEYMOUTH 12, 1949. WEYMOUTH 2,466,962

ARTICLE CONVEYING AND DISTRIBUTING MECHANISM Filed July 12,.1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gjvwwvtom Lawavmou-ru Patented Apr. 12, 1949 2;4.66,9fi2 ARTICLE CONVEYING AND DISTRIBUTING I MECHANISM? Leslie: G. Weymouth Mountain. View, (Salli, ass-= signor to Owens-Illinois Glass Company; a. con.-

ponation of. 01110,.

9. Claims.-

1 Mysinvention relatesitothe apparatus for transfenui-ng: artiolesfrom one position to, another and for rearranging; or distributing, the articles-while in -transit;

Anobieotoithe;invention. is to provide an apamaratus Whi'ClI- articles may be advanced! in; a

mill to a; distributing; station and there automatir callx' distributed. to a plurality. of lanes. along which theyrare advancedinr separate rows.

Aiurtherobjectofi the invention is: to provide anrapparatus adaptediior conveying; articles; such rbottlesjarseorthe like; and distributing and rearranging: them ina;pl ura1ity of parallel rows.

Qther objects-of. the invention-will appear here.- inaftem.

fiefierringitogtheaocompanying drawings which illustrate; an; apparatus; embodying my invention:

Ei-g; 1; is. a perspectiveview oif the apparatus,

pants bein zbroken away.

151; trainedaover; agdrive sprocket Wheel IS; on the shaft k3} oi: the roll: l3}.v

The belt conveyor; [-2 runs over aroll; l Sparallel 'With; lliQl-l3 M; theirpper suriaceslofi theloelta M 811115 l2; being. in the; same horizontal! plane. A stationary-bar: Zllbridges the narrow spaoeaber tween.theslbelts..-. The-belt .l Z may; be. driven; either :lmthe motor limi a-- separate-motor and at the same speed orla slower, speed than the conveyor lair-r As; shown! the conveyor I2. is driven-by the motor I55. geared thereto, through. the sprocket fihwin I ,1: which is trained. over a sprocket: wheel fltonthe shaft ofgthe roll. l9.

The: articles; 22,, herein shown and: referred. to a;s.jau:s;. are. transmitted to; the conveyor-.- H by endles conveyor 2:3, herein shown as.;.a-:.fla t&- topiohainzoonveyonmountedz in a conveyor-frame attached; togthe frame Ill. The. chain.v conveyor- 23 I. arranged: with. its; upper; surface; in the same horizontal: plane as that. of r the: comveyor" I L andimay. extend. and: travel in,\ any desired direotion leading to the -eonveyor Ill; As thew-conveyors=2 3f and l l extendrindirece tlons at 'righti angles; The conveyor 23-iis driven bytliemotor l 5 operating through" theasharft: l3? and within-a gear 'casefl'l: A stationary transfer plate Zfwbridgesn the. space: between the conveyors 231 I lg, being positioned; to; support thexartieles 22 as they move from one conveyor totthe other:

Parallel lanesextending lengthwise ofthe com.- veyoitsz lsl'andi l arerformed by a sentiessotffparallel guide rails DOSllJi'Ol'IEdi over spacedi abovesthe conveyors. In the construction shown: there are three lanes. but: a. greater: or less: number might be; providedi. The: rails? includean. outer rail 26 attached: at; its; forward: end'; to: a post 21, an inner rail. 28 (Fig. 1). and intermediate rails Miami 30'.- The: railsi28, .29:: and:30 are supported byrihangers. 31].? depen'dingzzfromz an angle ba1'v32 mountedzonithe poslzzzllandiaipost 33:1

The. jars. 22 on; the oonvevor. 23 are held; in place; between. stationary guide rails 34; 'Ilhe innen guide rail Milsprovi-ded at itsaforwardend with-,- an extension, 3-5por-rai1; extending? over: the convey-on H in' a. direction at: right angles to the conveyor: 23.; The. outer guide rail'. 3.4: is formed at 4 its-.1- forward: end with a. curved section 36. by whichthejars 22 areadefiected ontosthe-plate 25, off whichrthey' are. pushed-ontothe conveyor, l-l.

Means ion distributing" and directing. thejarsto the parallel lanes, includes-a distributing-trans.- fer devicein theviorm of astar. wheel 3].. located atthe distributingstation... Illrewheelis mounted oven the. conveyor H for. free. rotation, about. a vertical. axis and includes a hub. 35. jiournalled. at its upper end.in..the,,-angl'e her 32'. Arms 39fradiQ- ate-from the. hub, and a they rotate,. passbef neaththe rails: 28,.2911and'.30,.the rails thus being in.. overlemping relation to the path of. the said arms. The outer. endlportion of each .arm 39, is hevellediat whereby the. armis, pointed.

The operation by, which thejars are distributed is asfollows:

Assuming .tlierpartsto be in the positionsshown in.Fig..2,,a-.jar 22;is1directly behindjan'd in con: tact. with. an.-. arm. 3.91 of. the. star. Wheel. so that as the jar. is. pushed inwardly, onto the belt ll, rotates: the. star. wheel in a. clock..- wise direction. The. group of three. jars on the front side of. the. arm. 341i is. pushed. for.- ward: thereby, being; guided. into therespecti-ve lanes by: the. curved: guide rails. 43 M and 45 which are extensionszof the. parallel=rails. Fig; 3 showsthestar wheel inamore advanced posi! tion. Therow ofrincoming jars, headed by the jarxZZa, rotates thezstar w-heel rat an accelerating speed until. the, arm... 39; in contact with the. jar 22a: isabroughttoazpos-itions about parallel with .thepcross. bar; 32.; This-brings, thelnextsucceedarm-392 mm positionstor engage the. group o1} firs which has just been moved onto the conveyor As shown in Fig. 3, the incoming jars headed by the jar 2211 move forward in a row along the stationary rail 35, which extends in the direction of travel of the conveyor II and provides a backing for the jars, so that the latter can exert a pressure on the arm 39 without being moved out of line by the back pressure of said arm. The row of jars is thus maintained in a straight line with the jars moving straight forward with the belt until the next succeeding arm '39 passes the stationary guide 35 and positions the row of jars laterally away from the rail 35, as shown in Fig.

2, directing them into the several lanes. Owing to the overlapping relation of the guide rails 43, 44, 45, with respect to the path of the radial arms 39, the jars are distributed and guided into the several lanes before they are carried out of contact with the radial arms.

After the jars have passed beyond the control of the star wheel, they are carried forward by the conveyor and positioned on the stationary plate 20 from which they are pushed by the next group of jars onto the conveyor l 2.

Modification may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. Article conveying and distributing apparatus comprising means for moving and guiding a line of articles alonga predetermined path to a distributing station, guide rails defining a plurality of lanes extending from said station, and a distributor comprising a horizontal arm mounted for rotation about a vertical axis at said station, means for rotating said arm continuously in one direction about said axis and causing it during each rotation to move across said path and in overlapping relation to the guide rails, with the said arm extending transversely to the said lanes as it overlaps the guide rails and arranged to distribute articles selectively to the several lanes during each said rotation, and stationary guiding means forming a backing for the articles during their transfer from the first said conveyor into said lanes.

2. The combination of a horizontal conveyor extending to a distributing station and by which articles are conveyed in a line to said station, a

second horizontal conveyor extending from said station, means providing a plurality of lanes extending along said second conveyor, 2. distributing wheel mounted at said station for rotation about a vertical axis and comprising radial arms, means for guiding articles from said first'mentioned conveyor into the path of said arms, guiding means having a stationary mounting in overlapping relation to the path of said arms and cooperating therewith for distributing the articles and guiding them selectively into said lanes, and guiding means positioned to provide a backing for the articles during their transfer from the first mentioned conveyor into said lanes.

3. The combination of a horizontally disposed endless belt conveyor, a second horizontally disposed conveyor having a discharge end adjacent to the receiving end of said belt conveyor, a star wheel mounted over said belt conveyor at said receiving end for rotation about a vertical axis and comprising radial arms positioned over the belt conveyor, means for guiding articles as they are discharged from said second conveyor, into the path of said arms, and stationary guide rails in overlapping relation to the pathof said arms and cooperating therewith to selectively guide the articles into predetermined positions transversely of the belt conveyor.

4. The combination of a horizontally disposed endless belt conveyor, a plurality of guide rails positioned over the conveyor and extending lengthwise thereof, said rails defining a plurality of lanes, a second horizontally disposed endless conveyor, guide rails thereover positioned to guide articles in a single line as they are carried forward on the conveyor, said second conveyor extending to a position adjacent to the first mentioned conveyor, a star wheel mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and comprising radial arms extending over said belt conveyor, and

guiding means in position to guide articles while carried on said belt conveyor toward the axis of the star wheel and within the path of said arms, said first mentioned guide rails being extended into position to receive the articles as they are moved by said arms.

5. The combination of a horizontally disposed endless belt conveyor, means for driving the conveyor horizontally, a star wheel mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and positioned over the conveyor, said star wheel comprising radial arms rotating horizontally over the conveyor, means for placing articles on the conveyor and causing them to be carried forward in the direction of travel of the the conveyor while in the path of said arms and thereby causing certain of said articles to engage the rear faces of said arms and rotate the star wheel, thereby causing the front faces of succeeding arms to engage the said articles and move them transversely of the conveyor, and stationary guides positioned over the conveyor and in overlapping relation to the path of said arms in position to guide the said articles and distribute them laterally of the conveyor while the articles are within the range of travel of said arms.

6. Article conveying and distributing apparatus comprising a star Wheel mounted to rotate freely about a stationary vertical axis, said wheel comprising arms extending radially from said axis, means for conveying articles and directing them single file into the path of said arms, thereby causing the foremost article to engage behind a said arm and rotate the star wheel while succeeding articles are moved into position to form with said foremost article a row in the path of said arms, whereby said rotation of the star wheel brings a succeeding arm behind the row of articles, each arm being operable as it advances to advance a row of said articles While succeeding articles are forming a row, and stationary-guiding means for guiding and distributing the articles in predetermined laneswhile the articles are in the path of the star wheel.

7. Article conveying and distributing apparatus comprising in combination, a star Wheel mounted to rotate freely about a stationary vertical axis, and comprising radial arms each presenting a front driving surface and a rear surface, said surfaces being substantially radial to the said axis, driving means for advancing a row of articles, means for guiding the advancing articles single file into the path of said arms and causing the foremost article to engage the rear surface of one said arm and thereby rotate the star wheel while succeeding articles are brought by said driving and guiding means into the path of said arms, thereby bringing a row of thearticles into position to be engaged by the driving surface of the next succeeding arm of thestar wheel and to be carriedforward thereby, and sta tionary guide rails positioned to overlap the path of said arms and arranged to guide the articles of said row into predetermined lanes while the articles are within the range of and being advanced by the star wheel.

8. Article conveying and distributing apparatus comprising in combination, a star wheel mounted to rotate freely about a stationary vertical axis, and comprising radial arms each presenting a front driving surface and a rear surface, said surfaces being substantially radial to the said axis, driving means for advancing a row of articles, means for guiding the advancing articles single file into the path of said arms and causing the foremost article to engage the rear surface of one said arm and thereby rotate the star wheel while succeeding articles are brought by said driving and guiding means into the path of said arms, said guiding means including a guide rail extending horizontally substantially radial to the star wheel in overlapping relation to the path of the said arms and forming a backing for the said articles while the latter are in driving engagement with an arm of the star wheel.

9. The combination of a horizontally disposed endless belt conveyor, means for driving the conveyor horizontally, a star wheel mounted over the conveyor for free rotation about a vertical axis and comprising radial arms, a second travelling conveyor, means for driving the second conveyor, guiding means extending along the second conveyor and positioned to guide articles thereon and direct them single file onto said belt conveyor in the path of said arms and thereby cause the articles to engage behind said arms and rotate the star wheel, a stationary guide rail extending horizontally over the belt conveyor toward the axis of the star wheel, in position to form a guide for the articles as they are moved onto the belt conveyor and forming a backing for a said article as the latter engages behind a said arm and rotates the star wheel, and stationary curved guides positioned over the belt conveyor in overlapping relation to the path of said radial arms in position to receive the articles as they are advanced by said arms and guide them into predetermined lanes extending lengthwise of the belt conveyor.

LESLIE G. WEYMOUTH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,300,010 Porter Apr. 8, 1919 1,871,676 E-rmold Aug. 16, 1932 1,894,547 Tucker Jan. 17, 1933 1,998,163 Meyer Apr. 16, 1935 2,090,129 Kimball et al Aug. 17, 1937 2,363,681 McNamara et al Nov. 28, 1944

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